FateExtra : Alter
by Axicia
Summary: A girl surrounded by mystery decides to seek answers. She obtains her answer, however she must participate in the war and make it alive as the price for that answer. Only one will survive the Moon Cell war, and she must trample the dreams of others, Fate/Extra AU


Chapter 1 - Days of Gentle Nightmare I

"Deep in the abyss of light slumber, we sway with half-closed eyelids."

**3 Days Remaining**

I arrived at the school, Tsukumihara Academy. Many students are already inside the school, while I was still standing here.

Issei, the Student Council member is standing in front of the school. Checking me up and down, Issei began his usual long speech like he's programmed just to fulfill his purpose of annoying the students.

"Let's see the contents of your bag.. Books, pencil case, and school badge. Next, your nails are evenly cut and your haircut is sensible. You are a model Tsukumihara Academy student."

I scoffed, and walked past him towards the school building. Issei's speech is so monotonous that I thought he would continue his long speech even without me, or anyone else listening.

I walked into the all-familiar school I knew like the back of my hand. The halls are painted with boring gray, and the school are split into two sections. The left ones has classrooms while the right ones usually has some facilities for students.

I sighed, a normal student like me won't get out of this school.

Or at least I won't in the meantime.

With that in mind and losing most of my motivation, I walked towards my class.

I sat on my usual seat in the corner of the classroom. Shinji is surrounded by his usual fan club on his desk while writing some things on a stack of papers. Really, I wonder what gets on those girls that makes this one hell of a smug-but-stupid guy even gets a damn attention.

"Hakuno, you are boring as dirt. No wonder I can't even distinguish you from an NPC."

I rolled my eyes. Shinji, a sorry excuse of stupidity is mocking someone else... Again. Why am I not surprised? Because I see this on a daily basis? I really wonder how the heck Hakuno can put up with that guy.

"However, I like you. You know your place and stay there without disturbing anyone else. You are the ultimate sidekick." Shinji continued talking to Hakuno.

"Now, the social retard tries to cover his own retardation." I mumbled to myself.

Shinji stood up, apparently heard my mumbling. "Excuse me? What did you say about me, shorty?"

I stood up, my short stature does nothing to help my cause to intimidate him. "I said you are trying to cover up your social retardation."

Apparently, this was quite enough to infuriate him, as his face contorted, expressing his anger.

"Retarded? You are the only retard here! I am the best student here, get back to your level."

With that pathetic attempt of an insult, I put my right hand onto my chin and assumed a mock-thinking pose, letting the silver claw-like ring covering my entire middle finger glint in the light.

"Me? Retarded? Last time I checked, I can do better than claiming two plus two equals five, then trying to cover a mistake with a totally failed comeback."

Shinji's face took a shade of red as anger overtook him. Apparently, I kinda hit the bullseye. Its not that good of an insult, but still a start anyway.

Unfortunately, before I can hear another of his pathetic attempt of a comeback, the bell rang. The door immediately slid open and Ms. Taiga came in, ready to start today's lesson.

An all-too-familiar thud can be heard as Ms. Taiga fell on her usual same spot while attempting to take the chalk. It happened too many times to the point that I can just roll my eyes or act as if nothing out of ordinary happened.

However, some of the other students acts like this never happened. A few worried students stood immediately and walked to where Ms. Taiga lay unconscious.

"Um... Miss Taiga?"

"Shouldn't we contact the nurse's office?

Suddenly, Ms. Taiga jumped awake, as if nothing happened. She doesn't even mention anything about her fall... Well, she fell almost everyday, anyway.

The instant I finished that thought, suddenly my head hurts and slight static appears on my vision. It's like looking from a broken TV. After a few seconds, the static on my vision disappeared, leaving a slight headache.

"What's wrong? Get back to your seats, class is about to start!"

Hastily, the students walked back to their seats,and the class started as if nothing happened.

Ms. Taiga talked about amnesia today. However, I can't concentrate due to the headache.

The bell signaling the end of the class finally rang. Sighing in relief, I packed my belongings and began walking towards the door.

I thought of going to the rooftop and sit on one of the benches while looking at the sunset. Not wanting to have a score with the ice queen of the century, I decided against it.

Feeling dejected, I decided to spend some time in the garden.

The school garden was definitely well kept. Several kinds of flowers are planted either in pots or on the ground around the circular garden. The center of the garden consists of a fountain with blue, clear water. An eerily quiet chapel stood some distance before the fountain.

Sitting on one corner of the fountain, I played with the cold water using my hands, I scooped up some of the water with my hand and let it slip through my fingers. The setting sun behind the chapel gave red and orange hues to the building, making it seems as though the building glowed in beautiful shades of red.

Suddenly, I felt a bit of malicious aura. With a slight fear, I decided to look back... To find nothing but the school doors behind me.

With the lingering malicious aura and the fear still fresh in my mind, I took my bag and walked towards the school doors, putting the day behind me.

**2 Days Remaining**

I cracked my eyes open as soon the bright light of the sun pierced my eyes.

The sun feels fake.

As soon as I finish the thought, I was attacked with a sudden headache and more static dotted my vision.

Ignoring the sudden headache and the static dotting my vision, I got dressed quickly with the Tsukumihara uniform, brushed my hair, took my bag and quickly walked to school.

After reaching the school, I simply walked past the student council while they are busy being a broken record. Meh, they won't bat an eye even if I take several scissors crafted to crucify male students. Not that I really do, but seriously.

Quickly dismissing the funny thought, I walked into the school building towards my class.

Again, I sat on my usual desk in the back corner of the class. I was almost late this time, as Ms. Taiga entered the class as soon as I sat comfortably on my seat.

Something falling in 3, 2...

Expectedly, Ms. Taiga hit the floor when she was about to take her chalk. Oh well, should as well name her Falling Tiger or something along that line.

...Name? Who am I?

The instant that thought came into my mind, my headache worsened and more static dotted my vision.

I raised my hand. "I don't feel too well, can I go grab some aspirin at the infirmary?"

Ms. Taiga already stood up while I was too busy with my headache to pay attention. "You may go." She replied.

I slowly walked out of the class to the first floor. The world seems full of dots now, as if my vision is falling apart. Luckily, my headache is subsiding as I walked.

When I reached the first floor, a mysterious figure clothed in black walked from the left path. He radiated the same malicious aura I felt the day before, even the thought about it is enough to make my fingers shiver.

He walked past me to the second floor. For a second, I though I am going to drop dead from the pressure.

Suddenly, I felt something pulling me towards the direction the black-clothed figure came from. Something told me all my questions shall be answered there.

Answering the call, I walked towards the direction where the mysterious figure came from, ignoring the worsening headache and static in my vision.

Finally, I reached the end of the hallway. Even now, the feeling of something trying to pull my mind closer did not subside.

I ran my fingers on the surface of the wall, it feels... Ordinary, but the feeling of being pulled still did not subside. I was absentmindedly touching the surface when the wall suddenly gave way, and I fell down to the unknown abyss.

The illusionary wall leads to what seems like an ordinary storage room, if there is no gaping hole on the wall across. The hole pulsed and flickered on the corners, as if it's alive.

On the side of the wall, an effigy stood silently. The red core on its face stared, and I immediately feel like I am being watched by something with an aura of strength. Even though it has no eye, or something similar.

"Welcome, potential Master."

A voice came from seemingly nowhere. I scanned my eyes through the storage room, expecting a speaker, or a person speaking. But there was none.

"The answers you seek lies ahead. The road will not be easy, but the effigy will protect you. You can't hope to fight your enemies without it. In other words, should you lose it, you will die."

The silent effigy moved soundlessly, except the clack of wood whenever its legs hit the floor. It positioned itself beside me.

"Now, enter. Your answers lies at the end of your journey."

With some hesitation, I entered the dimensional hole before me, together with my silent companion.

Inside the hole, I can see a single path leading forward. The path, seemingly made from blue glass, illuminated the way.

I turned around, and the hole I came in from disappeared. There is no choice but to go forward.

I arrived at the final room, the room looks really strange due to the off-color of the... Celling? The doors didn't provide any relief for the strangeness either. Three doors, seemingly made of glass, stood tall before me, as if watching with unseen eyes.

However, that pales in comparison of what I was seeing. An untold amount of bodies, wearing light brown Tsukumihara Academy uniforms laid on the floor, motionless.

Suddenly, I heard a clack.

One of the fallen effigy rose, and began walking towards me. Instinctively, I retreated behind my own effigy.

The previously fallen effigy displayed hostility towards me. Without doubt, this effigy is my enemy as well.

The enemy effigy started the fight. It attempted to launch a kick onto my effigy, my effigy defended and countered the enemy with a punch. The enemy got disoriented for a few seconds, and I ordered my effigy to put its strength into one punch.

However, the enemy stopped the punch by kicking my effigy's stomach part. My effigy fell down and attempted to defend itself.

But the defense ended up futile as the enemy punched my effigy with a strong force. I took the small ether shard and crushed it on my hand. From my hand, energy shot out towards my effigy, healing it.

My effigy kicked the enemy on the chest, cancelling the all-out attack. Splinters of wood came out from the damaged chest, before dissipating into pieces of data. Slightly disoriented, the enemy assumed a defensive stance, blocking the kick from my effigy. The enemy countered with a punch towards my effigy's head, rendering it unconscious.

On that point, I started to worry. My effigy has yet to recover from the blow on the head. The enemy shifted its eyeless gaze towards me.

It launched a kick at me, I was barely able to avoid its kick as my arm was grazed by the sharp point. It quickly turned towards me, attempting to land a punch with its pointed hand.

If only I can restrain it...

As if answering to my thought, thin threads came out from both rings on my middle finger and wrapped around the enemy. The threads looked thin, but it seems to gave the enemy some trouble as it is unable to break free.

I clenched my hands into fists in a further attempt to restrain it. Surprisingly, the rings bent easily.

My effigy finally snapped out of its disorientation. It violently released a flurry of attacks towards the tied up enemy, spraying splinters of wood from the wounds.

Thoroughly hacked, the enemy effigy fell down on the floor with a thud and the threads previously restricting the enemy retracted back into my ring. I collapsed on my knees from the fatigue. Suddenly, I heard the voice which guided me throughout my journey.

"Congratulations, you have earned the right to exist."

The voice sounded smug and amused at the same time. I really want to snap at him right now, if my body weren't aching from the fight.

As soon as the voice finished its sentence, the glass doors which stood on the circular room shattered, leaving the central door intact, a bright, golden light shone above the door, and a lone figure seemingly appeared from the floor before me.

A warrior clad in dark teal, wielding a pair of... poles? stood before me, the golden light illuminating his figure.

Seemingly, he was human. But the aura radiating from him made my skin crawl, the additional aura of somewhat unnatural beauty only serves to intensify my fear. There is no doubt that his existence transcended that of a normal human.

He turned around, and looked at me with his golden eyes. He showed a small smile, but his eyes betrayed him, as they seem to hide a quiet grief.

"I am grateful, for I have been given another chance to fight on the battlefield. Let me ask you, are you my Master?"

"Yes."

I attempted to give him a confident sounding answer, yet it came out slightly ragged in my fatique.

"Thank you, Master. I promise that I will clear your way to the Grail."

He takes hold of my hand, and helps me get back on my feet.

From the hand he held, a sharp and searing pain suddenly came. It feels like my hand is being stabbed with a molten knife. It hurts until the point that all I wanted to do was dip it into a bucket of ice.

I looked at my hand, now adorned with a red tattoo like mark. I can barely contain my bewilderment as I alternate between staring the person before me and the mark on the back of my right hand.

The mysterious voice spoke again.

"That is your Command Seal, it is a mark of your participation in the Holy Grail War, and proof that you hold dominion over your Servant. Should you lose it, you will be disqualified and die."

Somehow, I can picture the owner of the voice as a priest in his thirties dressed in black, with a smug expression mixed with amusement plastered on his face.

The voice continued. "That is your Servant. Their only purpose is clear your way to the Holy Grail. They are the spear that pierces, they are the shield that protects."

I looked at the warrior standing beside me. Now that I get a more clear view of him, I can see he is dressed in a dark teal armor. His hair are combed backwards roughly, and his features gave a stoic air around him. The poles are actually spears varying in length, tightly wrapped with cloth from the hilt to the handles.

"Now, let us see if you can pass this test."

The previously beaten effigy stood, along with my effigy. However, both of them radiated an ominous aura now.

Recalling my previous, close-call fight with it, I readied myself for the upcoming attack.

My Servant stepped forward and readied both of his spears as both effigy took the initiative and jumped into the air. One effigy aimed a kick towards his chest, which he stopped with a swing of his red spear, cutting its leg in half, the broken half disappeared into pieces of data.

The other effigy aimed a punch towards his chest, which he blocked with both of his spear.

Seeing the opportunity, the other effigy quickly jumped towards him, aiming a punch. He jumped out of the way, leaving both effigies to attack nothing but thin air.

Having assessed his enemy, he charged forward, spinning both of his spears skillfully. The effigies also charged forward, putting strong force behind their pointy arms. One jumped and attempted to hit him from behind.

He turned around and thrusted his red spear at the effigy behind him, stabbing its chest. Quickly, he also dragged his yellow spear on the floor where the second effigy stood, tripping it and cutting its other leg. The first effigy disappeared into pieces of data, the second one fell down on the floor and stopped moving

"The path has opened for you, Master. You decided to look beyond what is accepted, opening a path that will lead to your dream."

For a minute, I found myself wondering who is the owner of this mysterious voice which guided me throughout my journey. As if reading my mind, the moment I finished the thought, he spoke.

"You wish to know who I am? I am merely a record of the past, tasked to guide the potential Masters. I am no more than a mountain you just conquered, or a leaf you just plucked."

I was about to ask him more, when suddenly he spoke in a commanding tone.

"Now rest, as this is only the beginning." As if the voice has power over me, my vision went hazy as slumber started to overtake me.

"Calista"

The name came into my mind, before I sank into darkness.

**AN: Heya, just started this even though I have this idea some time ago. I personally have some tugging feeling that tells me something is wrong with the battle scenes, so I kinda need some constructive critics to improve, either via PM or review. Thanks~**


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